Just the person I need to talk to. I am thinking about moving up to a SLR most of my photoshave been with a cool pix. Do I really need 12 mp the 10mp are sooo much cheaper. Or will I regreat buying the 10mp next year?

better comp than the first, still lacking any strong subject to draw the eye in. washed out on the right. try same scene under different lighting conditions. eg; a stormy sky could make either of these photos much better.

As was mentioned there is no main subject, in taking a photo sometimes what you see as an amazing landscape does not translate. A good rule is to get some main subject which pops out and the background adds to, or just amazing "textures" like clouds, lots of rocks in the water etc.

For this image you could play more with the textures. If you did this as a B&W image with higher contrast the water could become much more interesting.

Also I would crop out the branches to the left, the tree is cropped partially which leads to a "chopped off look". When doing a crop or framing it is good to look at the edges and see if it looks natural.

i just made a impulse purchase yesterday- nikon 60mm af-s macro. good reviews all around, but do you have any experience with it? if so, thoughs?

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Nope, I went for the Sigma 50mm F2.8 which is a great lens and pretty cheap (I have used it more than any other lens in my work) but any prime macro lens now will be sharp so you don't have much to worry about.

Just the person I need to talk to. I am thinking about moving up to a SLR most of my photoshave been with a cool pix. Do I really need 12 mp the 10mp are sooo much cheaper. Or will I regreat buying the 10mp next year?

Plus what would you sujest for starter lens

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Many of my images were made with a 6MP D50 including one I had on display at a museum show so don't worry.

The jump from 12 to 10 is not that big anyways, as for which camera to recommend what types of photos do you plan to take? Low light? Action? Landscapes? Etc.

First the technical aspects, it looks like you have 3 different light sources, florescent I am guessing on the foreground structure, incandescent for the town, and the background is natural. Each has a different temperature making the different "colors" of the light look very busy. This is a very difficult situation to make work.

Also I don't know if it was your Jpeg compression or the high ISO but their is a good bit of noise, so if it is that way in the original file set the ISO lower manually and a tripod or bracing yourself might be needed.

As for the composition it looks slightly tilted clockwise (if you have a grid you can turn on that helps a lot). And you have this interesting structure on the bottom but it's placement and the amount shown don't bring it to the forefront. I think if you tilted the camera down to just ave the structure and town it could create a stronger image. It would make stronger elements for the viewers eye to catch.

Like I said - this is a place close by I like to experiment around with.

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love the last one. need to move back and get more sky in... sky is the strong part of the image. also... don't get chintzy with the flash pops. carry a piece of black foam core with you(bigger the better), walk the scene giving the barn multiple pops(keep your distance from the flash to barn equal to even out the exposure), hide the flash from the camera's eye with the piece of foam core each time you pop the barn.

How about a few looks at a place I like to practice on? Willing to take any hints for improved composition/exposure.

1)

2) More recent shot - different time of the year, sun was more in the SW (photo taken - road is a North/South road, facing North)

3) Last months full moon - playing around with off camera flash. 5sec @ f/4

Like I said - this is a place close by I like to experiment around with.

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I really like the location, the first thing is I would try a little bit longer focal length and move back a little for a similar composition. The reason for this is the distortion caused is reaching a little bit too extreme.

For the compositions I like the 3rd on the best by far, the 1st is alright but here the wide angle distortion takes away a bit more than the others, and the middle one looks more like a standard photo. It looks like you are trying all sorts of angles which is great and keep at it. Get on the ground if you have to but once you find it I see a possibly strong series if you can mark where you take the photo and take the photo during all times of the day/year. It would create one much like the different water lily paintings by Monet.

Finally I like the last image if you could keep that light highlight but go to one extreme or the other, bring it down and light the background more, or black out the rest.

love the last one. need to move back and get more sky in... sky is the strong part of the image. also... don't get chintzy with the flash pops. carry a piece of black foam core with you(bigger the better), walk the scene giving the barn multiple pops(keep your distance from the flash to barn equal to even out the exposure), hide the flash from the camera's eye with the piece of foam core each time you pop the barn.

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this was really my first experience with off camera flash, but it was limited to my SB-400 tethered by a TTL cord, so I was limited to about a 4' radius. I've since gotten an SB-600, so I'll be able to fire by button on the flash and use my D300s in commander mode. I'm also awaiting the delivery of a set of radio triggers. I'd like to put a flash or two inside the building to fire and light up the door and spaces in the boards. Again...experimenting.